Poor people 'ignore' health campaigns

Government campaigns aimed at persuading people to stop drinking and smoking have little or no effect on poorer people, it was claimed yesterday.

Michael Marmot, a professor of epidemiology at University College London, said those on low wages or benefits ignore the health warnings.

He added that campaigns to force people to quit are "pointless" and "counter-productive" because better-educated people had already heeded the warning and given up.

Following Government campaigns to educate the public on the dangers of smoking, there has been a sharp drop in middle- and upper-class smokers.

However, among the working class, 42 per cent of unskilled workers still smoke.

Despite high taxes, 55 per cent of single mothers smoke and among hard-drug users the figure is "practically 100 per cent".

He said: "People at the lower end of the social spectrum are not listening to these messages because of the continued social inequalities.

"It's not because they haven't heard, or don't know that smoking is bad for you, it is because, on their list of priorities, giving up smoking is way down and they have to turn their attention to more immediate matters."

He said what was needed was not big campaigns but an in-depth look at what was at the root of poverty and these continued inequalities.

"People know that smoking is bad for you and a lot of middle-class people have found the willpower to give up.

"We have to ask why the same cannot be said for people at the lower end of the social spectrum.

"Simply conveying the message that smoking is bad for you isn't the issue."

He said he supported the smoking ban, due to come in on July 1, but added: "We really need to have a look at what is going on in these people's lives if we are going to get them to stop smoking. Smoking has to be put in context when looking at the multiple disadvantages they face."

Deborah Arnott, the director of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said Prof Marmot's concerns underlined why proposed exemptions to the ban should be scrapped.

She said: "They are looking at allowing smoking in exactly the sort of place the poorer people go, like pubs that do not serve food.

"If we are to protect these people's health we have to fight these planned exemptions."